176 killed or missing in heavy rains in China

Sixty people were either killed or missing in fresh torrential rain and floods in north China, taking the toll to 176 due to rainstorms this week.

Millions have been rendered homeless after the rains flattened homes and triggered massive evacuation, officials said on Saturday.

As many as 26 people were killed and 34 others listed missing in Hebei Province in the rains in the rain since yesterday, local officials said. 42 people were killed and 74 missing in heavy rains in central and north areas on July 21.

Jingxing County, located in the west of the province, saw an average precipitation of 545.4 mm in 19 hours on July 20, surpassing the amount received by the county in the whole of 2015.

The local government has evacuated 38,750 people from the area, state-run Xinhua news agency reported today.

There have been power outages, disruptions to communication and other infrastructure, and road closures across Jingxing.

North and northeast China have been swept by heavy rain this week, causing many casualties and a lot of property damage.

Meanwhile, Chinese disaster relief authorities on Saturday launched an emergency response to deadly floods in Shanxi Province.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs and the National Commission for Disaster Reduction have also sent teams to assist relief work in the northern province.

The development came even as angry people accused officials of negligence in handling of the floods and online footage showed locals clashing with police.

Heavy rain and floods since July 18 have left at least six dead and forced the evacuation of 19,000 people in Shanxi.

Nearly 15,000 house have collapsed and 5,600 hectares of crops have been destroyed, causing an economic loss of 1.4 billion yuan (about USD 210 million), according to local authorities.

Local disaster relief authorities also dispatched work teams to flood-hit areas and provided supplies and more than 12 million yuan of cash to help people resettle.